Former PEMEX Director Víctor Rodríguez Arrested

Former PEMEX Director General Víctor Rodríguez Padilla was arrested in Mexico City on July 7, 2026, following highly publicized domestic and vicarious violence allegations. The arrest was triggered by security footage published on YouTube by his wife, María Felicia Jiménez, which captured an assault that took place in March 2026 in the presence of their minor child. In response to the public outcry, President Claudia Sheinbaum demanded "all the weight of the law" be applied, while the Secretaría de las Mujeres stepped in to protect the victim. Prior to his arrest, Rodríguez Padilla had formally stepped away from public life, halting a planned but un-formalized directorship appointment at INEEL. A judge has since ordered preventive detention as he faces trial in Morelos.

Víctor Rodríguez Padilla, who served as Director General of PEMEX from August 2024 until May 14, 2026, has been arrested. The arrest follows a sequence of public institutional actions triggered by domestic violence allegations his wife María Felicia Jiménez documented through video evidence published in late June.

Jiménez published video footage on YouTube in late June showing a physical altercation she states occurred on March 15, 2026, while Rodríguez Padilla was still serving as PEMEX Director General. The footage showed a struggle, shoving, and moments in which Rodríguez Padilla allegedly physically restrained Jiménez while a minor was present. In descriptions accompanying the video, Jiménez stated that "the discourse on love for energy sovereignty, the defense of women and their equality stayed at the rallies, at PEMEX's podiums and now at INEEL," and directed an explicit appeal to President Sheinbaum, noting "this is a government led by women."

The institutional responses were swift. President Sheinbaum stated publicly that she had not spoken with Rodríguez Padilla following the allegations and that "all the weight of the law" should be applied. The Secretaría de las Mujeres condemned the alleged violence and confirmed it had established contact with Jiménez to offer accompaniment and protective measures. INEEL issued a clarification stating that although Rodríguez Padilla's incorporation to the institution had previously been announced, that appointment was never formalized, a statement that created a factual tension, since INEEL itself had published a bulletin announcing his arrival as Director General and had diffused photographs and official institutional activities with him as head of the institution during June.

Rodríguez Padilla had responded on June 27 through his X account, asking for discretion, stating he had separated from any public post to address the process as a private citizen, and affirming he would collaborate with competent authorities.

Rodríguez Padilla accepted the PEMEX directorship from the outset on a single condition: a maximum tenure of eighteen months, after which he intended to return to academia. He was a physicist with a doctorate in Energy Economics from the University of Grenoble, a tenured professor at UNAM's Facultad de Ingeniería, and a member of the National Researchers System. Sheinbaum credited him with advancing the integration of subsidiaries, the elimination of affiliates, reducing the company's debt, and improving its credit outlook, a set of achievements that had not been seen at PEMEX in more than a decade.

His administration coincided with some of PEMEX's most significant financial restructuring in years, including the Banobras-coordinated supplier debt payment program that reduced accounts payable by 14.1% in the first quarter of 2026. He oversaw the launch of the mixed contract program, the company's transition to a fully public state enterprise under the constitutional reform, and the early stages of the petrochemical and fertilizer reactivation plan that his successor Juan Carlos Carpio formally presented in Coatzacoalcos on June 5.